FLIGHT International, 25 October 1980
advantage of existing types or deriva-
? tives through improved fuel efficiency.
The fuselage cross-section of 12ft k
10-33in (3-92m) has been chosen to offer
, higher comfort standards than any air
craft based on an existing design,
j Partnership in SA development and
production has been offered to Japan,
• and were the aircraft to be supported
by the Japanese industry and market
under the YXX programme Airbus
^ would have very strong grounds for
going ahead with it. However, at the
*• present time it appears that Fokker is
more likely to be selected as a partner
r by Japan. Alternatively, the launch of
^ the SA series could provide the oppor-
l tunity for increased partnership by
<i British Aerospace, which of all the
partners has taken most interest in the
i narrowbody market. It has been sug
gested that assembly and flight-test
* facilities for the SA would not neces
sarily have to be located at Toulouse,
and the possibility that SA development
could be managed from Filton, for
instance, may be attractive to BAe.
t However, the crucial question facing
the SA programme is whether such an
4 aircraft can compete against the attrac
tions of aircraft such as the 737-300.
». There is also the fairly high probability
that the Fokker F.29 will go ahead,
A further dividing the market. Of all
three Airbus new aircraft options, the
l SA is probably the most sensitive to
timing; the need to decide fairly soon
whether to participate in the narrow-
body market will probably set the
timing for Airbus Industrie's choice
) among the SA, TA9 and TAIL
Airship Industries 1
6 Meadows Court, Ramsey, Isle of Man,
United Kingdom ST (0624) 814194
Skyship R40 British development
efforts in the design of new-technology
J airships have been brought together
i under the Airship Industries banner f ol-
i lowing the takeover by Thermo-Skyships
Ltd of Airship Developments Ltd, which
i flight-tested the AD500 non-rigid sur
veillance airship before failing finan-1
daily early this year.
<; In July, Airship Industries announced
ambitious plans to start construction of
* a 4-2 million ft3 freight-carrying rigid
airship in early 1982. Redcoat Cargo Air-
* lines—a small Gatwick-based carrier—
/ has signed an agreement to purchase
four of these craft, designated Skyship
* R40, by 1984. Redcoat plans to operate
an updated version of the AD500, desig
nated NR2, in the course of 1981.
+ Development of the Skyship R40 is
currently being supported by European
Ferries Ltd, but the organisation is now
seeking help from a number of Euro
pean governments. Details of the
* design released so far show a hull form
similar to that of the Vickers-designed
k R.100 of 1930, the 600ft (182-9m) length
and 120ft (36-6m) diameter yielding a
rather lower fineness ratio than used
, in large US or German airships. How
ever, the X-form fins, spanning 168ft
x (51 • 2m) from tip to tip, are of higher
aspect ratio. Powerplants are four 1,120
* s.h.p. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of
Canada PT6A-50 turboprops driving con
ventional tractor propellers. A 37,755ft3
(1,070m3) cargo hold is built into the
keel.
At oil prices prevailing before the
Gulf War, the Skyship R40 was claimed
to offer ton-mile costs 29 per cent be
low narrowbodied jet aircraft. Payload
would range from 40 to 58 tons (40,600kg
to 58,900kg) and maximum range would
be 2,170 n.m. (4,025km) with a 40-ton
load at a 67kt (119km/hr) cruising
speed.
Development of the Skyship R40 will
depend on the availability of substan
tially more money for the project. By
the time the next issue of this survey
is prepared, the future of the project
should be clearer.
Antonov
Aviaexport, 32-34 Smolenskaya-Sennaja,
Moscow 121-200, USSR S 244 26 86
-at> 7257
An-24/26 30 The An-26 twin-turboprop-
plus-booster, civil/military freighter and
its An-30 survey derivative are now the
main export models of the standard
Soviet twin. The type is also reported
to be in unlicenced production in China.
The initial An-24V Series 1 is now out
of production. The An-24V Series 2, with
water injection, may continue in produc
tion but there are no active sales efforts
in progress. The An-26 and An-30, how
ever, have been demonstrated at recent
Western airshows. In 1979 an An-24RV
(standard airliner with jet boost) was
shown with new eight-bladed propel
lers, designed to reduce cabin noise.
An-24/An-26/An-30 orders: Aeroflot 700,
Air Guinea 4, Air Mali 2, Air Mongol 5,
Balkan Bulgarian 8, CAAC 2, Cubana 10,
Interflug 7, Iraqi Airways 2, Lebanese
Air Transport 1, Lina Congo 2, LOT 17,
Tarom 20, Egyptair 9.
An-32 Although this substantially up
rated version of the standard An-26,
first displayed in June 1977 at the Paris
Salon, clearly has a military application,
it will also be used by Aeroflot for "up-
country" operations. It has been selected
by the Indian Air Force, and will be
placed in production by HAL.
The An-32 has nearly twice the basic
power of the An-26, being fitted with
5,180 s.h.p. Ivchenko Al-20Ms, but at
57,3001b (26,000kg) grosses only two
tonnes more for take-off. The engines
are mounted overwing, allowing the
bigger propellers to clear the fuselage
while retaining the existing wing and
engine mountings.
The An-32 is now the main production
version of the Antonov twin family, and
assembly lines have been set up at Kiev
and Ulan Ude. Production aircraft differ
from examples seen in the West in
having leading-edge chord extensions
and fixed tailplane slots.
The extra power mainly benefits hot-
and-high operations. According to Avia
export, the An-32 can be operated out
of 15,000ft-high airfields in ISA + 10°C
conditions. The engine-out ceiling of
the An-32 is increased to 16,400ft
(5,000m), allowing safe operation in
mountainous areas.
An-72 Two prototypes of this light
short-field transport are being tested
before any decision is made on produc-
1579
tion. In the long term, the type is
envisaged as a replacement for the
An-24 series, suggesting that an airliner
version will be developed. At the time
of the Paris Air Show in June 1979, the
two prototypes had logged more than
300 flights totalling l,000hr.
Avoidance of foreign-object damage
and noise reduction are the stated aims
of the overwing engine mounting of the
An-72, although their installation is
clearly designed to make use of jet
deflection on the Coanda principle. A
considerable amount of equipment
common to the Yakovlev Yak-42 is used,
including the Lotarev D-36 engines and
the radar and navigation system. A
three-man crew is carried.
The cabin is fitted with an overhead
traversing crane, like that of most
Soviet freighters. Seats can either be
installed along the cabin sides or on
pallets. Passenger capacity of the
present aircraft would be around 40
The An-72 weighs some 76,2001b for
take-off from a 4,000ft runway, and can
depart from a 3,300ft runway at 58,4001b.
Maximum payload is 16,5001b, and this
can be carried for 540 n.m. at Mach 0-7.
An-40 Nothing has been heard recently
of this large freighter, intended as a
replacement for the An-22. It is to be
presumed that the Soviet Union is
developing a large high-bypass-ratio en
gine, but so far efforts in this direction
have been fruitless and frustrated by
the refusal of the West to agree to
export such engines.
Boeing
Boeing Commercial Airplane Company,
PO Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124,
USA ffi (206) 237 2121 ^ 32 94 30
Boeing Vertol Company (234 only) PO
Box 16858, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19142, USA S> (215) 522 2121
234 Commercial Chinook The first
Boeing 234 Commercial Chinook made
its maiden flight from Philadelphia on
August 19, commencing a flight-test and
certification programme in the USA and
Britain. The first aircraft should be
delivered to British Airways in Decem
ber, but the airline does not plan to
start commercial operations until the
beginning of July, the first half of 1981
being spent in proving the aircraft for
the demanding conditions of North Sea
service.
The past year has been a time of
mixed fortunes for the Chinook. Bristow
Helicopters and Helikopter Service both
placed orders for the aircraft, and later
cancelled them. The main reason for the
cancellation, quoted publicly by both
operators, was dissatisfaction with the
expected trend of performance and
reliability improvements on the Chinook.
However, British Airways Helicopters
remains firmly behind the Chinook, and
it is recalled that it was BAH which
pioneered commercial operations of the
now very successful Sikorsky S-61N.
Boeing Vertol expects to sell at least 75
Chinooks for North Sea oil-support
operations in the next ten years, and
high-side market forecasts suggest as
many as 150 sales.
The role of British Airways' Chinooks